Nothing is Impossible! The First Amputee to Return to Active Duty in the
Navy Will Be in the Batter’s Box at Try-Outs at the LA Dodgers Spring
Training in Arizona

February 26, 2013 11:15 AM Eastern Standard Time

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Seven years ago on Feb. 25, 2006, Navy Hospital Corpsman 3rd
Class Daniel “Doc” Jacobs was in a Marine Humvee in Ramadi, Iraq when an
IED exploded beneath him killing the Marine with him and shattering his
own body. He lost his left leg below the knee and suffered serious hand
and foot injuries as well. Jacobs underwent more than 50 surgeries but
ultimately was found to be “fit for duty” and returned to an infantry
unit. That was history in the making.

A believer that nothing is impossible, Jacobs, through will and
work-out, had become the first such amputee to return to active duty.

Recently discharged, he came home with his injuries and medals and
continued his physical pursuits including a bike ride between LA and San
Francisco, the Detroit marathon and helping organize and playing on a
disabled veteran baseball team.

Before following his father and grandfather by enlisting, Jacobs had
been a promising ball player with the dream of some day having a shot at
a major league team.

That horrible day in Iraq is the memory; his new opportunity is the
dream. When they say “Batter Up!” at the Dodgers’ spring training in
Arizona, Jacobs will be in the batter’s box being measured only by his
ability as a ballplayer.

Last year, he met Dodger legend Tommy Lasorda at a California Disabled
Veterans Business Alliance meeting and shared his dream. Tommy invited
him if he was really up to it. “He can hit major league pitching. I have
seen it first hand,” says former Angels star pitcher Justin Speier and
one of Doc’s good friends.

Rich Dryden, Executive Director of the California Disabled Veterans
Business Alliance, which develops a wide range of opportunities for the
special disabled vets, said, “I hope Doc’s remarkable inspiring story
gets as much attention as the tragedies we hear so much about.”